Ben Kuzma: Hansen hopes right acquisition will take pressure off Sedins

Vancouver Canucks #36 Jannik Hansen during a break in play.Photo by
Gerry Kahrmann

Jannik Hansen knows there’s no such thing as a sure thing.

The Vancouver Canucks right winger — often dubbed Mr. Trade Bait because of his versatility and salary cap friendly contract — hasn’t been dealt as the National Hockey League club strives to get its house in order. And general manager Jim Benning has told anyone within earshot he’s not ditching the Dane.

Hansen shouldn’t be traded. Regardless of an easily movable contract that has two years remaining at $2.5 million US annually — and despite what transpires with the wooing of unrestricted free agents in advance of the free-agent frenzy Friday — Hansen is a Swiss Army knife.

He can play on any line and had a career-high 22 goals last season after joining Henrik and Daniel Sedin. He can play any role, is a fleet-footed breakaway threat and low-maintenance voice of reason in the room. For all the question marks surrounding the Canucks, he provides answers and his curiosity about what path the Canucks are travelling to get back to the playoffs is obvious.

He’s 30. His wife is about to give birth and he wants to win — now.

“Hopefully we can turn this ship around and look to add players instead of subtracting and those (trade) rumours will go away,” said Hansen. “As long as we have No. 22 (Daniel) and No. 33 (Henrik), we’re contending. They obviously drive the ship, but they need help — there’s no question about that.

“And that’s where we’ve been lacking for so many years. They need the pressure taken off them so teams can’t just zone in on them.”

That pressure-relief valve can be found in free agency because there’s money to spend.

Dan Hamhuis is expected to join Matt Bartkowski, Yannick Weber and Brandon Prust as UFAs in the open market while Alex Burrows and Chris Higgins are buyout candidates before the Thursday deadline.

The hockey operations department will roll out the welcome mat this week to prize UFAs and attempt to sell them on the team and the city. But they won’t come cheap. They’ll want big money and long term — at least $6 million US annually and six-year deals — and will also want to win. In this current environment, that will be a tough sell.

There’s skill to pursue in Loui Eriksson and a power forward to ponder in Milan Lucic, who also possesses a giant X-factor.

The Canucks were easy to play against. They acquired Erik Gudbranson to get rid of a free-fly zone in their own end and hope Nikita Tryamkin did more than just tease us late last season with a willingness to hit everybody and anybody.

Lucic would also provide a level of pushback that’s simply not there up front. Kyle Okposo is another option with less snarl, but any added offence combined with bark and bite is crucial. Derek Dorsett is willing and Jake Virtanen is young, but in the Pacific Division, the intimidation factor is heightened and the Sedins are always a target. So are others.

We saw it in one night when Ryan Getzlaf bulldozed Virtanen and gave the rookie a hip-pointer injury before treating rookie Jared McCann like a rag doll in a forgettable 4-0 loss at Anaheim on Nov. 30. Chris Higgins was also rocked with a hit to the head from hulking rookie Nick Ritchie and didn’t play the next night in Los Angeles.

“There are not a lot of easy nights in this division and if you can protect the young guys, it makes for an easier transition,” said Hansen. “We have to compete with big and fast teams. Guddy (Gudbranson) will help. He’s hopefully our Kevin (Bieksa) because we need that response.

However, what the Canucks need most is scoring. A 27th-ranked power play and 29th-rated offence can be propped up by the right additions and the target for Benning is two UFAs. But there’s a reason Ryan Miller is still here on an expiring contract that pays $6 million next season to team with Jacob Markstrom. The Canucks hope to be in low-scoring games and have their goalies steal more than a few.

“It’s easier,” said Hansen. “It’s hard to score three or four on any given night and difficult when you’re in the middle of a grind on the road. You can win games with systems, trust and execution.”

RING OF HONOUR FOR OHLUND

Matthias Öhlund looks like he could still play, if not those surgically repaired knees.

The big Swedish defenceman will be inducted into the Ring of Honour at Rogers Arena on Dec. 16, prior to a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s the franchise scoring leader for defencemen with 93 goals and 325 points in 11 seasons here.

His ability to play a sound, strong and consistent game was trumped by returning from a career-threatening injury. He was struck in the right eye by a defected puck in a 1999 preseason game, required surgery and missed 38 games.

As a leader and a mentor to young countrymen like the Sedins and Alex Edler, his place in the ring was only delayed by being under contract to the Lightning and having that deal expire. He has been on injured reserve since 2011 after surgery on both knees.

“This was definitely unexpected and it’s very exciting,” said Ohlund, the 13th overall pick in the 1994 draft, who joins the late Pat Quinn, Kirk McLean, Harold Snepsts, Thomas Gradin and Orland Kurtenbach in the ring.

“Playing in a Canadian market and a great city was special.”

Henrik Sedin went one better.

“He was a calming influence on all of us,” said the Canucks captain. “He showed us the every day life in the NHL and it was very important for us. To be around him on a daily basis and to see all the things he fought through and playing with broken bones, it was amazing.”

OVERTIME: Dave Cameron, the former coach of the Ottawa Senators, was an assistant coach with Willie Desjardins on Canada’s 2009 World Junior team. Cameron is considered a possibility to replace the departed Glen Gulutzan as an assistant coach.

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